Review - Day 3 | Ashes - Only Test | Rain washes out an exciting Day 3
Written By: Ritwika Dhar
Date: 29-01-2022
Picture Courtesy: Getty Images
Heather Knight and Sophie Ecclestone resumed the day brilliantly from where they left off yesterday. England reached their 250 runs in 91 overs. The star of this resurgence Heather Knight slog-swept the last delivery of the 97th over against Jonassen to bring up her 150 in style. This was her 2nd 150 in Tests. On the other hand, Ecclestone was playing a knock of utter patience. She survived for 117 balls before going back to the pavilion on 34. Tahlia McGrath provided the breakthrough as she broke a mammoth partnership of 100 runs. The last batter from the English side Kate Cross could only add 11 off 22 balls before Ellyse Perry ended England’s innings on 297 with a deficit of 40 runs. Knight remained unbeaten on 168 (294) after batting for 6 hours.
Brunt wrestles back control before rain played a spoilsport at the Manuka Oval
Australia started their 2nd innings identically like their 1st. In the 1st over of the innings, Brunt tempted Healy by pitching the delivery outside the off which was nicked behind to the keeper. Jones made no mistake and completed a record 7 catches so far in this match. Brunt didn’t stop as she picked up Haynes’ wicket in the 5th over. Beaumont pulled off a stunning catch at square leg to complete Brunt’s 7-wicket haul in this match.
She also became the first bowler in Women’s cricket to take at least 50 wickets in all three formats. Soon, the rain stopped play, and with that lunch was called. The players couldn’t come back on the field as the continuous drizzle ensured that there was no more play. Those 2 wickets meant Australia being 52/2 effectively.
Is the Aussie team mismanaging Alyssa Healy?
In the last 5 years, Alyssa Healy has emerged as one of the most destructive opening bats the modern game has seen. Her evolution from being a lower middle-order bat to an opener is a great case to study. But, her recent failures have been raising some questions.
Since the India series, she got out 7 times for a single-digit score in the last 10 innings. Her recent stats definitely make it evident that she’s going through a rough patch. In this Test match, things have become worse for her as she bagged a pair. Now the question is - Is Australia mismanaging her? The difference in placement and the restrictive nature of Test cricket doesn’t allow her to play her natural game. The pacers have been continuously exploiting the area outside the off-stump. Also, opening in Tests after keeping for an entire is not an easy job by any means.
Day 4 will start early tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. (AST)/ 4:00 a.m. (IST) to compensate for the two sessions lost today and a minimum of 109 overs will be bowled.
Day 3 summary:
Australia (1st inn) - 337/9 d (104.1), M. Lanning 93 (170), R. Haynes 86 (180); K. Brunt 5/60, N. Sciver 3/41
England (1st inn) - 297 (105.5), H. Knight 168* (294), S. Ecclestone 34 (117); E. Perry 3/57, A. Sutherland 2/62
Australia (2nd inn) – 12/2 (4.5), B. Mooney 7* (16), R. Haynes 4 (10); K. Brunt 2/4
Australia lead by 52 runs with 8 wickets in hand.